Retail development plans for Dorchester are expected to win support when the new Dorset Council is created next year.

Guarantees were asked for over the future of the project by Cllr Matt Hall at the West Dorset District Council strategy committee on Tuesday. The district council has been looking at shopping development schemes for both Charles Street and the Fairfield – the former dating back to the 1970s.

District council leader Tony Alford admitted that senior members of the new shadow council had not discussed the Dorchester town centre proposals.

“But given the scale and importance, and we are talking about the county town, it would be incumbent on the new council to take it on board and carry it forward,” he said.

Concerns have been raised about the viability of future town centre shopping proposals in Dorchester in the face of challenges from internet shopping and rival town centres. Several businesses at the bottom end of South Street have remained empty since new paving was completed last year.

Local businessman Peter Noble produced a discussion paper at the time arguing for a move away from traditional shopping outlets and for the town to get its parking and heritage policies right as a means of attracting visitors.

There have also been calls from town and district councillor, Alistair Chisholm, to develop a ‘heritage quarter’ in Dorchester.

Cllr Alford said that he had also been watching changing retail patterns: “We see news about retail weekly. We still need to make our towns interesting and, if we do that, we should achieve some sort of vibrancy,” he said.

Dorchester town councillors last week argued that the district council’s idea of considering shops on the Fairfield, together with a possible multi-level car park, was causing problems with discussions over the future of the weekly stall market. The town council is seeking to have the Royal Charter, granting the right to hold markets, returned to it – but say the Charter would be of little use without an agreement about where to hold the market.